Judy Hopps

Judy Hopps is a rabbit and one of the four core members of the pack in We Can Fix Pawbert. She is the protagonist of the Zootopia franchise, where she became the first rabbit officer of the ZPD. In the series, Judy serves as the pack's moral compass and emotional anchor -- the first mammal to advocate for Pawbert even after he poisoned her. She is married to Nick Wilde.

"I love you, you ridiculous fox." -- Judy to Nick (S05E16)

Background

Early Life

Judy grew up in Bunnyburrow, a rural community far from Zootopia. Her parents, Stu and Bonnie Hopps, were carrot farmers who loved their daughter fiercely but discouraged her dream of becoming a police officer -- a career no rabbit had ever pursued. As a child, Judy confronted a fox bully named Gideon Grey at a farm fair. Gideon clawed her cheek, but she still retrieved the stolen tickets he had taken from her friends. The incident left her with both a scar and an unspoken wariness of predators.

Despite her family's 275+ siblings and the constant chorus of voices telling her to settle, Judy never wavered. She was determined to prove that anyone could be anything.

Personality

Judy is fiercely optimistic, driven, and independent. She cares deeply about the well-being of others and has a moral clarity that rarely falters. Her optimism is not naive -- it has been tested by bigotry, betrayal, and loss -- but it endures because she chooses it, daily.

Key personality traits across the series:

• Optimistic but realistic -- She has seen the worst mammals can do and still chooses hope
• Driven to a fault -- Her determination can shade into overzealousness and impulsiveness
• Morally grounded -- The pack's compass; first to forgive, first to advocate
• Emotionally honest -- Capable of expressing her feelings in powerful, genuine ways
• Tactically intelligent -- Relies on wits over physical strength; resourceful in crisis
• Project manager energy -- Coordinates, organizes, and keeps things moving in peacetime and war

She has a mild, often unintentional prejudice toward predators that she actively works to overcome. This tension -- between her idealism and her inherited biases -- is part of what makes her advocacy for inter-species relationships so meaningful. She and Nick face ongoing speciesism as an inter-species couple.

Physical Appearance

Judy is a young adult rabbit with a lithe build, gray fur with a lighter underbelly, large purple eyes, a short pink nose, long ears with black tips, and a small tail. As a detective, she wears professional attire rather than the patrol uniform of her early career.

Film History

Zootopia

Judy graduated from the Zootopia Police Academy as valedictorian under Mayor Lionheart's Mammal Inclusion Initiative -- the first rabbit officer in ZPD history. Assigned to Precinct 1, she was immediately relegated to parking duty by Chief Bogo, who doubted her capabilities.

She encountered Nick Wilde, a fox con artist who tricked her into buying a Jumbo-pop for his "pawpsicle" scheme. When she confronted him later, Nick mocked her ambitions and predicted she would wash out. Undeterred, Judy volunteered to find missing otter Emmitt Otterton, staking her career on a 48-hour deadline.

She blackmailed Nick into assisting by recording his admission of tax evasion on her carrot pen recorder. Their investigation led them through the Mystic Springs Oasis, the sloth-operated DMV, Mr. Big's territory (where Judy's earlier rescue of Fru Fru saved their lives), and into the Rainforest District, where jaguar Renato Manchas went savage during questioning. Judy saved Nick's life by chaining Manchas to a post.

They traced the savage predators to Cliffside Asylum, where Mayor Leodore Lionheart was secretly imprisoning them. After Lionheart's arrest, Judy made a critical mistake at a press conference: she suggested the savage behavior might be due to predators' "biology." Nick, devastated, returned his completed ZPD application and walked away.

As anti-predator discrimination spread, Judy resigned and returned to Bunnyburrow. There she discovered that "Night Howlers" were toxic flowers, not wolves. She returned to Zootopia, tearfully apologized to Nick -- calling herself "just a dumb bunny" -- and he forgave her, having kept her carrot pen all along.

Together they uncovered that Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellwether was the mastermind, weaponizing night howler serum to turn predators savage. In the Natural History Museum, they tricked Bellwether into a recorded confession by swapping her serum pellets with blueberries.

Judy was reinstated. Nick graduated as the ZPD's first fox officer, and Judy badged him at his ceremony. They became partners. Her words to him in their cruiser: she loved him.

Zootopia 2

By the time of the Zootennial Gala, Judy was a detective partnered with Nick. Their relationship was still rocky -- Chief Bogo assigned them to mandatory therapy sessions with Dr. Fuzzby for "Partners in Crisis."

At the gala, Judy went undercover and met Pawbert Lynxley -- a nervous, awkward lynx who made her laugh. She did not know he was a Lynxley.

When Gary De'Snake infiltrated the gala seeking the Lynxley Journal, chaos erupted. Gary kidnapped Milton and revealed the truth about the Lynxleys' century-old theft of the Weather Walls from Agnes De'Snake. The Lynxleys framed Nick and Judy for Gary's attack on Chief Bogo, making them fugitives.

Nick, Judy, Gary, and Nibbles Maplestick worked together to uncover the full conspiracy. Pawbert appeared to help them -- and Judy genuinely liked him. Then, at the critical moment near the Weather Walls, Pawbert revealed his true nature:

He injected Judy with snake venom. He threw Gary into the snow to freeze. He stabbed Nibbles with venom. He attacked Nick, telling him Judy was dead.

Gary, absorbing Judy's body heat to revive himself, called out to Nick during his fight with Pawbert. Nick threw the antivenom pen down to Gary, who injected Judy. She survived.

The heroes recovered Agnes's original patent from Reptile Ravine. Captain Hoggbottom knocked Pawbert unconscious with a frying pan. The Lynxley family was arrested. Mayor Winddancer found his courage and helped bring them down.

Nick and Judy were cleared. Their partnership -- and their relationship -- emerged stronger. Nick's words: "Love you, partner."

Series History

Season 1: The Anchor

Judy and Nick are assigned as liaisons to Pawbert, who is being held as a cooperating witness under the protection of an undercover ZSI agent known only as "Luther." The assignment is not comfortable. Weeks earlier, Pawbert injected Judy with snake venom. She nearly died. Her neck still bears the mark.

Yet Judy is the first to advocate for Pawbert's humanity—even as his victim. She witnessed the Zootennial Gala. She saw Milton ignore Pawbert's attempts to contribute. She watched Cattrick laugh at him and Kitty look through him like he was not there. She understands what shaped Pawbert, even while processing her own trauma from his attack. Her position is not naivete; it is informed compassion.

During the hit squad attack, Judy evacuates with Pawbert and Nick through the hidden ZSI tunnel while Luther stays behind alone to fight six attackers. When Luther flatlines at Site Two and Neagley resuscitates him, the four of them become something more than an assignment. The pack's formation accelerates through shared crisis.

Judy retrieves Pawbert's mother's green sweater from evidence, recognizing its importance before Pawbert can ask for it. She has read his file; she knows about Lillian Lynxley's death and Milton's systematic erasure of her memory. The sweater matters. This small act of empathy defines Judy's role in the pack—seeing what others need before they can articulate it.

Throughout the crossover arcs—Station 118, Precinct 99, Precinct 7, the ZSI-BAU—Judy is a steady, grounding presence. She works alongside first responders, participates in heist chaos, and provides tactical support during the Mawl crisis. Her moral clarity anchors the pack when operations become complicated.

During the structured apology, Judy receives Pawbert's formal apology for poisoning her. The moment is not easy. She must look at the mammal who nearly killed her and accept his words. Her acceptance is neither casual nor performative; it is hard-won, genuine, and carries the weight of her own healing.

At Pawbert's trial, Judy watches from the gallery. The verdict is guilty; the sentence is twelve years. On his last morning of freedom, she is there. When Pawbert enters ZCF, Judy is already planning how to stay connected. Her promise: "Always."

Season 2: Pack Solidarity

One year later, the attacks on ZCF escalate. Judy and Nick are not inside the prison during the extraction—they are operational support, coordinating with Reacher's team as Luther and Pawbert are pulled from the facility at dawn. When Warden Hartwell dies covering the escape, Judy feels the weight of it. Hartwell believed Pawbert was worth protecting. His sacrifice proved it.

The forgiveness session brings Dr. Fuzzby to Site Two. Judy must articulate forgiveness to Pawbert—explicit, unconditional. She has had a year to process. The word "unconditional" is applied deliberately, not lightly. Judy does not forget what Pawbert did; she chooses what his future can be.

During the Clawrence terrorism arc, Judy serves as an operational member of the pack. When the weather wall between Tundratown and Sahara Square is breached and 38+ civilians die, she is on the front lines of the emergency response. She has seen mass casualties before—the Night Howler crisis taught her what it means to work through horror—but the scale is different now.

When Pawbert is captured and Clawrence offers him a throne on live television, Judy watches the broadcast. She sees Pawbert refuse, unwilling to trade his pack for a throne built on violence. She understands what it costs him. Clawrence is offering everything Milton never gave: recognition, power, belonging. Pawbert refuses because he has found something better. Judy is part of that something.

The Precinct 99 Halloween Heist returns as a security audit for ZSI facilities. Judy participates with the pack's characteristic competitive chaos. The Precinct 7 crossover at Mole Harbor expands her professional network.

At the clemency hearing, Judy is present. When Luther testifies that Pawbert is someone who has decided who he wants to be—not a criminal looking for an angle—she hears her own beliefs articulated by someone who was once a stranger. The sentence is reduced by one year. Pawbert returns to ZCF, and Judy returns to waiting.

Season 3: The Pursuit

In the cross-training exchange with Precinct 7 officers at Precinct 1, Judy partners with Nolan and Juarez, arresting courier Quillford during a traffic stop. She discusses Pawbert's growth with Nolan, who recalls telling Pawbert that the person he was does not have to be the person he becomes. Judy reflects that Nolan asking to see the person instead of the name meant something to Pawbert. When Quillford is murdered inside Precinct 1 during a camera gap, the inside operative is confirmed.

Judy and Nick identify and arrest Officer Jasper Paddock—a six-year sleeper agent—just as the ZCF breach emergency alerts hit. During the pursuit of Leodore Lionheart, Judy answers Pawbert's call from a stolen phone and coordinates the pack's convergence on Dead End Station, then City Hall. At Dead End, she and Nick find the paid agitators manifest proving the crowd is manufactured.

At the City Hall reunion, Judy hugs Pawbert on the steps, crying that they were coming for him—they were always coming. The next morning, she hugs Chief Bogo after he shreds the complaints filed against them—an awkward display of affection from a subordinate that Bogo has no idea how to handle. She visits Pawbert through the glass partition at ZCF and promises: always.

When Lionheart exposes Luther's identity and his inter-species relationship with Pawbert on live television, the fallout touches Judy and Nick as well -- their own inter-species relationship faces renewed scrutiny.

Season 4: Domestic Life

Season 4's slice-of-life tone gives Judy room to exist beyond crisis. For the first time since the Night Howler case, she is not racing toward the next emergency. The pack has time to breathe.

Judy and Nick officially move into Pawthorne Mansion, formalizing what has been true in spirit for years: the four of them are family. The Pack Charter is established—a formal document governing their shared life. Judy contributes the quiet hours rule, permission to request space without explanation, understanding that four mammals living together need boundaries. She frames the CLOSED FILE protocol for work confidentiality, recognizing that Luther's classified operations and her own detective work require compartmentalization even within the pack.

A Deersneyland trip brings unexpected comedy when the pack encounters Chief Bogo and Clawhauser on what was clearly supposed to be a secret outing. Bogo's mortification provides levity. Judy watches her stoic commanding officer try to explain why he is wearing Deersneyland ears and fails to suppress her smile.

When press descends on the mansion after a tabloid story about the inter-species couples living together, Judy experiences the same prejudice she has faced her entire career—but now weaponized against her relationship with Nick. Maris deploys "the Pawthorne claws" against the reporters. Judy watches a wealthy, powerful wolf family protect all four of them and understands, perhaps for the first time, what it means to have resources deployed on your behalf.

In the GYU classroom speciesism discussion, Judy sits alongside Pawbert as they face questions from students about inter-species relationships and systemic prejudice. Her answer to one question captures her lifetime of experience: the prejudice never stops. The observation speaks to her history as both a victim of prejudice—a rabbit told she could never be a police officer—and someone who has had to confront her own biases. She once nearly used fox repellent on Nick. She has earned the right to speak about growth.

When Luther is injured in a building collapse during a ZSI raid, Judy helps coordinate the pack's response. She watches O'Donnell hold Pawbert during his panic attack and thinks about what it means to love someone who walks toward danger. Nick creates The Chart, documenting Luther's terrible patient behavior. Judy appreciates the humor even as she worries.

On the fire escape, Judy and Nick have a quiet conversation about the future. Marriage comes up for the first time—not a proposal, just the idea, tested aloud between them. Judy wonders aloud what if what she wants most is simply to stay. The sentiment echoes Pawbert's declaration of choosing to stay, but from a different place. Pawbert's was about survival, about refusing to run. Judy's is about contentment—the realization that she has found what she was looking for.

Season 5: The Crisis and the Wedding

Two years of relative peace end when Mikhail Icener, a polar bear from Vladifrostok, emerges as an external threat to Zootopia. The Icener crisis returns the series to action-thriller intensity, and Judy is operational throughout—running perimeter duty, interrogating captured operative Volkov, and serving on alpha team during simultaneous raids across the city.

When Icener's network attempts to assassinate a ZSI convoy, Judy shoots out the sedan's tires during the escort ambush. She suggests contacting Precinct 99 for the heist operation to steal data from the MV Frost Crown, and during that operation she executes the phone bamboozle that redirects patrol away from the team's position.

The weather attack on Sahara Square kills 38+ mammals and displaces hundreds. Judy coordinates the Oasis Hotel evacuation and establishes a field hospital for triage. When Nick returns from the collapsed structure carrying seven children—three of them already dead—she is the one who steadies him. She calls Fru Fru to arrange the alliance with Mr. Big, understanding that conventional methods are no longer sufficient.

The Precinct 1 bombing injures Chief Bogo severely and kills three officers. Judy is among the first responders, pulling mammals from the rubble. When asked how she keeps going, her answer is simple: keep going anyway.

The Rainforest District fire brings the 9-1-1 crossover and a conversation that reshapes Judy's understanding of her life. Athena Grant-Nash reveals that her husband Bobby died six months earlier—he gave the only antidote to Chimney during a virus outbreak because Maddie was pregnant. Bobby chose to die so another family could live. This is the first time the pack confronts what it means to lose a partner in the line of duty. Judy finds Nick afterward and tells him, with fierce clarity: "I love you, you ridiculous fox."

During the ZSI HQ assault, Judy is thrown into a window and survives. She watches a hippo operative fall through the same glass she was pressed against moments earlier—a visceral reminder of how close death has come. When she arrives at Mr. Big's mansion, it is too late. Big has already fallen. She promises Fru Fru, his daughter, that they will end Icener. She means it.

The final operation to rescue Luther and Pawbert from Icener's stronghold brings every resource the city has. Judy's rallying cry before the breach captures everything she believes: "They are FAMILY. And we are GOING IN."

In the aftermath, Judy closes Shaw's eyes—the ZSI agent who died firing warning shots to save Luther and Pawbert. She calls Director Costa with the casualty reports. She project-manages the mansion repairs, because someone has to hold things together.

In Los Zangeles, Nick proposes. No elaborate scheme, just: "Marry me." Her answer: "Yes, you ridiculous fox, yes." The same weekend, Luther proposes to Pawbert at the mansion—without coordination. The pack decides: double wedding.

At World Celebration Gardens, officiated by Mayor Winddancer, Judy marries Nick alongside Luther and Pawbert. Her wedding vow captures their entire relationship in a single line: "I promise to let you steal my fries, because you're going to do it anyway."

Key Relationships

Nick Wilde

Nick is Judy's husband and her partner in every sense. Their relationship begins with mutual antagonism -- a naive cop and a cynical con artist -- and grows through shared danger, shared vulnerability, and shared choice. Nick's muzzling trauma and Judy's inherited biases create friction that they work through over years. Their love is playful, teasing, and deeply genuine. Her signature term of endearment: "You ridiculous fox."

They marry in S05E24 after six-plus years together. Nick proposes in Los Zangeles with a simple "Marry me." She says yes.

Pawbert Pawthorne

Judy is Pawbert's first advocate -- remarkable because she is also his victim. Having witnessed the Lynxley family's cruelty at the gala, she understands what shaped Pawbert even while processing her own trauma from his attack. She retrieves his mother's green sweater from evidence. She forgives him unconditionally. She never forgets what he did, but she believes in who he can become.

Their relationship is one of deep familial love -- she is his pack sister, his moral example, and the living proof that forgiveness is possible.

Luther Pawthorne

Judy and Luther share a bond built on mutual respect and shared protectiveness over the pack. She trusts Luther's competence absolutely and he trusts her moral judgment. They do not need many words between them.

Chief Bogo

Bogo doubted Judy from day one -- a rabbit had no business being a police officer. Over years, his grudging respect became genuine admiration. He is gruff, dismissive, and occasionally infuriating, but he championed her career when it mattered.

Mr. Big

Judy saved Fru Fru's life before she knew who Fru Fru's father was. Mr. Big made Judy the godmother of his granddaughter Judith, named in her honor. His death in S05E19 is a profound loss -- she promises Fru Fru she will end Icener.

Fru Fru

Close friend since the incident in Zootopia. Fru Fru named her daughter Judith after Judy. After Mr. Big's death, Fru Fru assumes leadership of the organization. Their bond endures.

Bonnie and Stu Hopps

Judy's parents -- carrot farmers who raised 276 children and worried about every one of them. They initially tried to dissuade Judy from police work, but their love was never conditional on her obedience. Their gift of fox repellent before she left for Zootopia was well-intentioned but spoke to their own biases.

Key Phrases

Phrase	Origin	Significance
"You ridiculous fox"	Throughout series	Her term of endearment for Nick; affectionate exasperation
"Anyone can be anything"	Zootopia (film)	The city's motto; Judy's personal philosophy
"It never stops"	S04E14	On inter-species prejudice; spoken from experience
"What if what I want most is just... to stay?"	S04E17	Fire escape scene; echoes pack's core phrase
"Keep going anyway"	S05E13	After the Precinct 1 bombing; her response to devastation
"They are FAMILY. And we are GOING IN."	S05E21	Rallying cry during the final operation
"Yes, you ridiculous fox, yes"	S05E23	Accepting Nick's proposal

Abilities

• Speed and agility -- Fast, acrobatic, and quick to react; overcame the police academy using environmental advantages
• Acute hearing -- Her long ears give her exceptional hearing; can detect sounds most mammals miss
• High intellect -- Her greatest asset; relies on wits and tactical thinking over physical strength
• Skilled tactician -- Tricked Bellwether into a recorded confession; consistently outthinks opponents
• Emotional intelligence -- Reads situations and people with rare accuracy; knows when to push and when to hold

Trivia

• Judy appears in 103 of 104 episodes. She is absent from S03E01 "Licence to Claw," which focuses on Luther's ZSI raid and undercover insertion into ZCF (Judy is only mentioned in Pawbert's memories).
• She is the first rabbit officer in ZPD history, graduating as valedictorian of her academy class.
• She is the godmother of Mr. Big's granddaughter Judith.
• Her wedding vow included a promise to let Nick steal her fries.
• She contributed the quiet hours rule to the Pack Charter: permission to request space without explanation.
• She and Nick face ongoing inter-species prejudice as a rabbit-fox couple -- a parallel to Luther and Pawbert's experience as a wolf-lynx couple.
• Her fire escape conversation with Nick in S04E17 is the first time marriage is discussed between them.
• She has 275+ siblings from Bunnyburrow.